Wheel of Time

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I bought The Eye of the World, the first book of the Wheel of Time saga. Who read this? Is it interesting and worth the time

 

I wonder if this is my call for another rant about Jordan....

Nah, can't be bothered. Suffice it to say: Yes the Eye of the World is worth reading. Yes the Wheel of Time saga is worth reading. Up to a point. Unfortunately that point comes somewhere in about book 4. (Currently the saga has reached 9 volumes and they are released about 2 bloody years appart!)

Still if you start now, book 10 should be out by the time you've got there if you string it out a bit.

 

Banger ... its definitely a good read. Great character development ... and Lan is one mean mother!

Let us know what you thought after you're into it a bit.

 

It's a great series, but it's getting too drawn out. I've read the entire series only once, and there are (in my opinion) way to many names. You have to keep track of about fifty characters. There are about a dozen main characters and about two dozen secondary characters.

Great stuff, just hard to keep track of.

 

Yes, far too many names. All books should be like Conan, where the main character kills a horde of enemies (only one or two which are named, so not to create difficulties for readers) and then steals the loot and the best looking female in the story for himself.

(Don't get me wrong, Conan is great, just not continuously.)

 

VOLAR ... did you know that Robert Jordan wrote some of the best Conan books???? Amazing huh?

 

I love the Wheel of Time books, and jordans conan ones as well. I agree that there are a lot of characters but it is such a great feeling to finish one. I can generally read them in about 8 hours. I read one in 6 at a boring wedding recpetion. And the Dragon Reborn in front of my computer while i was waiting for a download.
Is it just me or do the shienerians (sp?) very similiar to Minsc?

 

WoT is simply amazing! The most indepth world and character development I have ever seen. Most of the criticque against it is valid but I dont think its that severe that it should stop you from reading them. I think book 9 is alot better than book 7 and 8 which were a bit disapointing in my eyes. Have still read every one of them 5+ times.

 

As most of this has been fairly positive I must just add a bit about the 'too many names' theme. We're not just talking about a lot of charcaters to remember. Oh no, in this series you'll get a page describing some really intricate and dastardley sounding plot. You're then expected to remember who those people were when you get the next single page of the plot 3 book (or 3,000 odd pages) later. Now my memory is pretty good but... There is an appendix of names but it doesn't cover anywhere near everyone (you'd need another 1,000 page book for that).

Anyway, to see what the disgruntled WoT readers had to say, try this link.
http://www.sorcerers.net/ubb/Forum16/HTML/000089.html

I must admit I became addicted and did enjoy vast chunks of the story, several of the characters and the feel of the world. But there is so much to hate about the series, as you'll see if you follow the link and its links to my in depth rants. I suppose you might argue that the series made quite an impression for me to be so dissapointed about it, and there was a lot of promise....

Anyway, you have been warned

PS is joacqin the only person to have read all the books and still be a fan?

[This message has been edited by Slappy (edited May 30, 2002).]

 

Probably the best thing I can say about the WoT series is that for an epic saga with so much promise, it really is a let down *sigh*

It's highly addictive once you get into the first book. The characterisation (of the male characters) is great early on, and you can really find yourself getting attached to the characters. And the non-linear plot keeps you guessing all the time. That will keep you in it for awhile. After a few books though, the character development suddenly ends, and the plot becomes so convoluted and diluted with the multitude of sub-plots that it no longer makes sense. I felt quite cheated with the later books, when upon finishing a book, I found that the main plot hadn't been advanced at all, and instead even more sub-plots were introduced. The long and short is that after so many books, nothing gets resolved.

One more thing though. Although the initial characterisation of the primary male characters is done quite well, it quickly becomes clear that Jordan does not know how to write about nor characterise a female character. There is virtually no development among the female characters in the book from the beginning and on, which is highly disappointing for me, and is probably the biggest reason why I stopped reading the series altogether. In the rich, well-developed world that Jordan has created, it is entirely unfeasible that not one of the female characters actually seems to learn or develop from their experiences. I've ranted in other threads about this exact point, so I'll leave it there.

Now, with all that said, the first books are still worth a read. Treat them as the 'mind candy' that they are. And, when you're done with those, go and pick up something that will actually be worth your time and effort. If characterisation is your thing, and you really want something to benchmark Jordan by, then anything by Julian May, Katherine Kerr, George Martin, or Connie Willis will absolutely blow you away.

 

Thanks for the input. After reading the first 5 pages () my opinion is that I like the style Jordan writes in.... but the maps are a bit strange to me yet.... Too much addicted to Tolkiens books still.....

 

I agree with Joacqin, I am a fan despit having read everything I have gotten into my greedy paws. I read Jordan as somewhat lighter note than some stuff, and if something is confusing... well, there is always the thing at the back of the book with explanations

Ara
(Cock-a-doodle-to-do)

 

Well, one thing to say, it's the best book series out there, and in my humble opinion, way better than Lord of the Rings. And for you who said the plot gets worse after bookd 4, have you even read the books....it's after book 4, and especially in book 6 and forward the plot really gets interesting, with all the intrigue from the dark side, and plenty more...and the character development is great....oh well...can't make everyone think the same way I do...


And for those of you who haven't read these books, I'd give it a shot...

 

Yes, in fact I did know. But owning most of Robert E. Howard's (the man who invented Conan in the first place, not one of the 583 other writers doing Conan after his death) Conan work (love those collections) I don't really count anyone else's stuff. That's just fan fiction in my book. The Conan thing was just an example, replace it with some similarly straight-forward fiction if it really bothers you Jordan's been writing both.

 

Glad to here you liked the first book, Marnix...I strongly recommend the series to most RPG players. It's that type of persons type of book! By the way Winter's Heart was my favourite out of the nine.

P.S I have read all the books and am still a fan.

[This message has been edited by Alienboy (edited June 07, 2002).]

 

I still like the series and I have read the earlier books about 6 times or so (once you read, you can skip the bland parts and get to the parts you really like). I must say that as I read them, I have noticed a trend that Jordan gives the same physical description for the person, then after that, he gives the name. Guess he figures someone might start reading book 6 and need that level of detail.

That is really the only problem I have with the series. I do not mind the length or the neverending story. I do hope for some great battles between Rand and the remaining Forsaken. The one with Sammael simply sucked, I was hoping for more out of that battle, like a sword fight to see who the better man really was.

Anyway, I am still a fan of the series and will buy the remaining books when they come out.

 

My biggest gripe with the 'too many names' syndrome is that he keeps introducint new characters in the new books, meaning that he'll need even more books to get to the end of everything(except that, in those new books, he'll introduce even more chars, etc., etc.,)

Even with that pretty big gripe, they're still my favorite fantasy novels not being written by George RR Martin. Though I don't read that much fantasy, so I'll bow to other's knowledge on the subject.

Cullain

 

I only read 40 pages yet.... as always, it's hard to start... also because I don't give myself much time to read.

 

Don't strain your eyes too much or anything. Maybe Jordan will finally finish the series by the time you've read the first book.

 

Buy Eye of the World. Then it's 8 (so far) sequels. They're huge, damn good, and will last you a LONG time. I read through Eye of the World, Dragon Reborn, and Shadow Rising in two days...can't find Book 2 anywhere in Athens. Anyhow it IS worth your money. Buy, buy, buy. It ceases to be a bad LOTR Book 1 ripoff after the middle of Eye of the World. (Mydraal = Nazgul, etc...)

PS: Buy, buy, buy